Slack stabilizer



Oct. 27, 1953 E. w. PETERS 2,656,939

SLACK STABILIZER Filed April 19, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

EFgg VEST W. PETERS @MKW 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 19, 1950 8 MT VE mo. W Q V E N m m m y k. z w w I. l .v mm Q m Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UNITED STAT ES PAT E'NT OFFICE SLACK 'STABILIZER Ernest W. :Pcters, Duluth, Minn.

Application April -19, 1950,3Ser'ialNo. 156,773

( Cl. zen-2235) 3 Glaims.

This invention relates to railroad equipment and has special refierence "tomeans for controlling the socalled 'slaclc between rolling stock.

It is well known that a certain amount of slack action is desirable inti-ie coupling of railway cars, as this permits the locomotive to get the train started, one car at a time, rather than trying to start all cars of a train at once. However, utter the cars have started rolling, this slack action loses its desirable attributes and hecomes somewhat of a curse. A great deal of damage is done to merchandise carried in railroad cars when the train slackens speed as the slack between cars is taken up, one car at a time, from front to rear. The reanncst car isstill going lull speed when the slack is taken up on it, and it literally crashes against the car ahead which, in turn, has already crashed into the car ahead of it. The jaming shirts loads in box cars and damage results to the merchandise, of course, to say nothing about the damage to the :car itself. In passenger cars this jolting results in much discomfort to the occupants, as is well known.

It therefore, one of my principal objects to provide a method and means for controlling the slack action between railway cars automatically.

Another object is to provide a *buil'er system between cars which will provide slack between cars for starting a train, and which will automatically eliminate the said slack when the train is .A further object is to provide a. buffer device on car to co-act with a matching buffer on an adjacent car, and means to control the interengagement of said buffer elements.

Another more specific object is to provide an hydraulic pump, a buile-r device operated by hydraulic pressure from the pump, and means to control the pressure of said pump on each milway car so that each car will provide its own slack control.

Another object is to provide a pressure relief valve which will automatically control the pressure provided by the pump when the railway car is rolling, and which will permit the said pressure to leak off as the car comes to a stop so that slack will be present to start the train Another object is to provide a gravity flow lluid return pipe so that there will be no loss of fiuitl in'the system.

Another important feature of my invention is that it will eliminate a great deal of damage done to cars and their contents during switching operations in rail yards.

These, "and other objects and advantages, will become more apparent as the description cl. my invention proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a, box car provided with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a. vertical sectional view through a. pair of cooperative bufier cylinders as. would be used on box cars or railway rolling stock.

Fig. '3 is a broken side elevatlonal view 01 a. socket member of a lJufler device for use on passenger cars.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the boiler cylinder and head for a passenger car, which cooperates with the device shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a broken top plan view showing how the buffer head connects with the socket member.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of my invention.

Fig. "l is a vertical sectional view oi the relief valve for my device.

In the drawings, the reference numeral l indicates a box car to which my invention is applied: 2-2 indicates the wheels of the car, 3 the journal or axle for the wheels, and 1-4 the chassis for the car trucks.

I prefer to fixedly mount a piston-type hydrau'lic pump 5 of any suitable design on the chassis 4 adjacent one of the wheels 2 with the operating rod 8 thereof extending toward the lemma] or axle '3. A cam 1 "is fixed on the jourml 3 in off-center position as shown, the cam having a circular periphery so that a hearing! may "be roteta'bly mounted thereon. An operating rod 3 is fixed to the bearing, and is pivotally connected to the rod 6 as at 10 so that as the car I is moved and the wheels and journal rotated, the cam, bearing 8, and rod 9 will cause the piston operating rod t to be reciprocated and thereby the pump *5 will be operated.

fibviously, the faster the car l is rolling, the more pressure that will be built up by the pump 5, and also, when the car is stopped, no pressure will be built up at all. In other words, the pressure provided by the pump will be directly proportlonal to the speed at which the car is rolling.

A fluid reservoir H is mounted on the ear I, any desired manner, there being a fluid supply line 12 leading from the reservoir to the pump. a portion of the line I2, at least, being of the flexible type to prevent, breakage of the line by vibration and movement of the trucks of the car, on which the pump 5 is mounted. Any suitable fluid may be used in the system, of course.

From the pump :5, .a pressure line 13 is provided, a. portion l4 thereof being flexible as shown 1101' the purpose above described. The pressure line I3 is connected to a buffer piston chamber or cylinder I6 in which a piston I1 is carried to be operated by fluid pressure from the pump 5, it being deemed apparent that fluid pumped into the cylinder under pressure will move the piston. A piston rod I8 is fixed to the piston I1 and extends outwardly of the cylinder where a buifer head I9 is carried. For box cars, a buffer, head which is a segment of a sphere, as shown, is preferred, the reasons for which will become apparent.

A leakage return line 20 is provided from the cylinder I6 back to the reservoir I I, the said line being connected to the cylinder adjacent the end thereof opposite the pressure line so that the piston is operated between the two lines. The leakage return line is preferably arranged, in relation to the reservoir, so that any fluid which might leak past the piston will flow back'into the reservoir. In addition to being a leakage return line, the line 20 acts as a breather for the cylinder and piston to permit the latter to operate freely within the cylinder. A pressure relief valve 21 is connected in a line 22 leading from the pressure line I3 to the reservoir II, the valve preferably comprising a housing in which a valve seat 23 is provided. A valve 24 is reciprocably mounted in the housing and engages the seat 23 to close off the line 22 to travel of fluid therethrough, an expansive spring 25 being provided to bias the valve to closed position. The tension of the spring against the valve may be adjusted by means of the screw 26 so that the valve willopen when any predetermined pressure limit is reached, thereby preventing any damage to parts by too much pressure being built up in the lines and cylinders.

The above description discloses the major portion of the structure of my invention, the remainder of which will be brought out in the description of the operation of the invention which follows. e

For freight cars, such as box cars and the like, a buffer cylinder mechanism, including piston,

piston rod, and buffer head, is installed on each be engageable with the buffer head of the buffer mechanism of the adjacent car, preferably so that the point of impact of the buffer heads will be directly above the drawbar connection between the cars, thereby permitting flexibility of the turning or other movements which occur between cars when they are rolling. The shape of the heads I9 obviously lends itself to permitting such flexibility. V

When the cars are not rolling, obviously there will be no pressure to hold the buffer heads together and a slack train is presented for easy starting. However, as soon as the cars start rolling, the pumps 5 on all cars are operated, as by the cams I previously described, and fluid is pumped into the pressure lines and buffer cylinders, forcing the b dder heads into firm engagement. As speed is gained, more and more pressure is built up, of course, and the buifer heads,

pushing against each other in the construction hereshown, will hold the drawbar connections in their outermost pulling relation and prevent any slack from occurring between cars.

The pressure relief valve will automatically open when a predetermined maximum pressure is reached and will prevent excessive pressure in the cylinders and lines. Thus, all will be well While the train is rolling.

If the brakes are applied by the locomotive engineer, braking pressure will be felt by all cars in the train at substantially the same time as there is no slack between cars, and the entire train will slow down at a uniform speed.

I have provided a pressure leak-off opening 28 in the relief valve mechanism, here shown as an opening or hole through the valve the opening being relatively small as compared to the valve area. This leak-off opening provides the automatic means to release or drain off the fluid in the cylinders I6 and pressure lines I3 when the train is stopped, thereby the buffer mechanisms are in inoperative status when the cars are not rolling. Thus, it may be seen, that a great problemof railroading will be overcome, and a great deal of damage now done to freight in transit will be eliminated.

Another advantage of the invention is that when cars are shoved and released for switching in the yards, their buffer mechanisms will be operative and the buffer will act as a shock absorber when the switched car hits the car it is to be connected with, thus eliminating much damage to cars and their contents. 7 a

In Figs. 3, 4, and 5, I have shown a form of my invention for use on passenger cars such as Pullmans and the like. The same pump, pressure line, relief valve, reservoir, and leakage return and breather would be used for passenger cars; however, only one bufier cylinder 29 would be required on each car, as passenger cars'are normally pulled only in one direction; A solid buffer stop 30' may be provided on the opposite end of each car to cooperate with the bufier head 3| which is carried on the piston rod 32, a socket 33 being provided in the stop as shown. Thepreferred position of the buffer stop and buffer mechanism for passenger cars is also directly over the drawbars and immediately underneath the platform (not shown) provided for walking from one car to another. Y

I wish to point out that similar results may be obtained by using a modified form of my invention wherein the pressure line connects to the cylinder on the outer end thereof. The pressure would tend to move the piston inwardly away from an adjacent car; In place of the buffer heads above described, a hooking arrangement could be used to couple the cars together and the pressure would hold the drawbars in their innermost engaged position. 7

7 Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

' 1. A device for controlling the slack between the drawbar connections of railway cars and the like having wheels comprising: a buffer cylin der and piston on the end of each of said cars, a buffer head extending from said cylinder and operated by said piston and being engageable with a cooperative buffer element carried on an adjacent car, an hydraulic pump carried on each of said cars adjacent the wheels thereof and operated by and during the rotation of said wheels,

a pressure supply line connecting said pump to said cylinder to operate said piston by hydraulic pressure, pressure control means in'said pressure line, and a pressure leak-off mechanism located in said pressure supply line between said pump and said cylinder to permit said pressure to leak off when said pump is not operating.

2. Means for controlling the slack between the drawbar connections of railroad cars comprising: an hydraulic pump on each of said cars, means to operate each of said pumps individually when the car is in motion, a fluid reservoir on each of said cars to supply said pump, a bufier cylinder, a piston within said cylinder, a pressure line connecting said pump and cylinder to operate said piston within said cylinder by fluid pressure from said pump, a buffer head extending from said cylinder and connected with said piston, said buffer head being engageable with a cooperative head on an adjacent car when said pump is operating to apply stress to said drawbars and to maintain a rigid connection between said cars, an automatic valve in said pressure line to limit the pressure applied to said piston by said pump, and an automatic relief valve for relieving the pressure applied to said buffer head when said cars are not in motion.

3. Means for controlling the slack between the drawbar connections of railroad cars comprising: a buffer cylinder and piston on each of said cars, a buffer head extending from said cylinder and operated by said piston, said buffer head being engageable with a cooperative member on the car adjacent thereto, means on said car connected to the rotative traction elements thereof to operate said piston when said car is rolling to accomplish and maintain said engagement under pressure, and control means for said operating means, said piston operatin means comprising a pump and a fluid line connected between said pump and said cylinder, and said control means comprising a pressure relief valve located in said fluid line between said pump and said cylinder to control the maximum pressure in said line and cylinder, and a pressure leak-off device located in said fluid line between said pump and said cylinder to reduce pressure in said line and cylinder and make said buffer cylinder and piston inoperative when said cars are not rolling.

ERNEST W. PETERS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 745,592 Weitzer et al. Dec. 1, 1903 1,257,766 Temple Feb. 26', 1918 1,579,244 Pedneau Apr. 6, 1926 1,747,226 Coyle Feb. 18, 1930 1,908,729 Bredenbreuker May 16, 1933 1,985,766 Dohms et al Dec. 25, 1934 2,425,044 OConnor Aug. 5, 1947 

